The three-week ban on importing live poultry began on 13 March after the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) announced that the H7-type avian flu virus was found in sample tests of 1,000 live chickens imported from a farm in Zhuhai’s Doumen district, reports the MacauDaily Times.

Vong Iao Lek, IACM's Chairman, has announced that poultry will not be imported from this farm for the time being.

He said that most of the birds would be imported from two other registered poultry farms in Zhuhai, with only a small number coming from farms in Zhongshan and a number of other cities in Guangdong.

Some 7600 chickens and 1800 pigeons were imported to the Nam Yue Wholesale Market yesterday, of which 150 samples were tested. 60 samples were tested daily before the import of chickens was suspended.

According to IACM, routine cleaning and disinfection will be conducted daily in all retail poultry stalls in the wet markets, while a thorough disinfection will be conducted every two weeks.

In order to more effectively reduce the risk of avian flu spreading, a thorough disinfection will be conducted in wet and wholesale markets on the same day every fortnight.

Further Reading

You can visit the Avian Flu page by clicking here.